DAMASIO’S APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Abstract

Consciousness is one of the main problems of the philosophy of mind. Consciousness is also a phenomenon that neurosciences are trying to unveil. The number of thinkers and scientists who approach the problem of consciousness from both neurological and philosophical perspectives is not high. Damasio is also a scientist and thinker who approaches consciousness from two perspectives. Damasio argues that consciousness is a feature that develops and develops during the evolution of living things and is transferred genetically with the advantages it provides to the organism. In the evolution process, the basic biological mechanism that Damasio argues ensures the emergence of the conscious mind is “homeostasis”. Damasio insists on the role of homeostasis and emotions, which he describes as its “conscious surrogate”, in the cultural process. Damasio’s proposed formula for the biological origin of the human cultural mind is based on the idea that homeostasis is responsible for the emergence of behavioral strategies that ensure the survival and development of both simple organisms and complex organisms, including humans. Asked what consciousness helps, Damasio replies that even at the simplest levels, consciousness helps optimize the response to environmental conditions. Damasio argues that the greatest advantage of the conscious mind to the organism is that it brings with it a “sense of self” that is concerned with survival. At more complex levels in the evolution of consciousness, functions such as memory, reasoning, and language are added to this sense of self, and the advantage of consciousness becomes greater. Damasio also considers the power behind cultural developments as the “homeostatic impulse”. According to him, the source of cultural forms such as myth, religion, art, philosophy, science, technology and social institutions such as laws, legal systems and morals is “sociocultural homeostasis”. Thus, Damasio presents an original view by integrating his evolutionary account of consciousness into a biophilosophical theory of culture.